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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24558880">Heart of the Netherworld</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothicDeetz/pseuds/GothicDeetz'>GothicDeetz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lost Ghosts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown &amp; King</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Afterlife, Continuation, Dead People, Demons, F/M, Family Issues, Father Figures, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fights, Gen, Ghosts, Mother Figures, Possession, Returning Home, Search for a Cure, Short Story, Step-parents, Tags Contain Spoilers, Talking, Talking To Dead People, Time Skips</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:27:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,095</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24558880</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothicDeetz/pseuds/GothicDeetz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Upon getting back with Betelgeuse from going out to look for lost ghosts, Lydia is ultimately grounded and Betelgeuse is sent back to the Netherworld where he will stay until Lydia is ungrounded.</p><p>As the days pass and Lydia’s grounding slowly comes to an end, she wakes up on the last day of her grounding to find all four of her parents acting strangely. Worried that they might all be possessed, Lydia forgets that she is grounded and heads straight to the Netherworld to find Betelgeuse and tell him what happened. Unfortunately for her, he confirms the theory that all four of her parents have been possessed. </p><p>Now they must go across the Netherworld to find a cure for the possession and get it back to Adam, Barbara, Charles, and Delia before it’s too late.</p><p>Formerly titled: Bridges and Games and Journey to the Center of the Netherworld</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice &amp; Charles Deetz &amp; Delia Deetz &amp; Lydia Deetz &amp; Adam Maitland &amp; Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice &amp; Lydia Deetz, Charles Deetz &amp; Delia Deetz &amp; Lydia Deetz &amp; Adam Maitland &amp; Barbara Maitland, Charles Deetz/Delia Deetz, Miss Argentina | Receptionist &amp; Beetlejuice</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lost Ghosts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775074</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Proceedings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lydia and Betelgeuse got home to find all four of Lydia’s parents folding their arms and glaring at them with equal looks of anger plastered on each and every one of their faces.</p><p> </p><p>That’s when Lydia knew she was grounded for good.</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps she and Betelgeuse could have thought that this was to happen from the very moment they left the house to go and look for more lost ghosts.</p><p> </p><p>Recently finding and convincing a female ghost from the 1850’s called Marie to go to the Netherworld was far from a mistake on both their parts. Lydia let out a gulp then a sigh as she refocused her attention back over towards all four of her parents.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m grounded,” she said knowingly. “Aren’t I?”</p><p> </p><p>All four of her parents nodded in unison and Lydia turned her attention away from them. Perhaps going out and meeting Marie was a mistake after all.</p><p> </p><p>“For a week, young lady,” sternly added Barbara.</p><p> </p><p>“What were you even doing, Lydia?” her dad asked, raising an eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh,” Lydia said as she refocused her attention back over towards her dad. “Going out and looking for more ghosts? Beej and I met this nice ghost girl named Marie. I’d like to tell you more about her but I’d rather wait until dinner. Is that okay with you guys. Can Betelgeuse stay for dinner like he did the past few days?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well we’d like to hear more about Marie at dinnertime, Lydia,” said Barbara, kneeling down in front of the teenager. “I’m afraid that Mr. Betelgeuse can’t stay to talk about her.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why not?” asked Lydia, completely and clearly confused.</p><p> </p><p>“Well,” said her dad, reaching over to rest a hand on top of Lydia’s. “He has to go straight back to the Netherworld. He can’t hang out with you until you’re ungrounded at the end of the week.”</p><p> </p><p>“WHAT?!” shouted Lydia and Betelgeuse in unison, staring wide-eyed at Charles and he simply nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“Mr. Geuse,” said Charles, standing up and pointing a hand towards a door to the Netherworld that was recently drawn into the wall with a piece of Green chalk and opened by Barbara. “I think it’s best that you leave for the Netherworld now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Alrighty then,” said Betelgeuse sadly as he turned and began to head towards the open door to the Netherworld. “Goodbye until the end of the week, Lyds. Goodbye everyone else.”</p><p> </p><p>Lydia mouthed a quiet “Goodbye” to Betelgeuse whilst all four of her parents remained quiet with their arms folded and their gazes fixated on Betelgeuse as he walked right through the door to the Netherworld.</p><p> </p><p>If it had to be like that for a whole entire week then surely Lydia could handle it, right?</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Wrong.</p><p> </p><p>Lydia had retreated to her bedroom in the minutes that followed, too upset and ashamed to even want to talk to any one of her four parents.</p><p> </p><p>The teenager lay on her back on top of her bed and screamed as loud as she possibly could into a pillow that she’d grabbed when she flung herself onto her bed. Missing Betelgeuse was one thing but Lydia was sure that she’d manage to get through at least one week without spending any time with Betelgeuse. After all, she’d done it before, hadn’t she?</p><p> </p><p>Letting out another scream, Lydia removed the pillow from her face and flung it off to the side.</p><p> </p><p>A knock sounded on the teenager’s door and Lydia turned and focused her attention over towards it. “Who is it?” she called out, though she already knew it was one of her four parents on the other side of her bedroom door.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s me, Barbara!” shouted the voice of Lydia’s ghost mother from the other side of the door. “Can I come in, Lydia?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure,” said Lydia with a sigh. “Phase through my bedroom door if you want, Barbara. I won’t mind.”</p><p> </p><p>That’s what Barbara did. She phased through Lydia’s bedroom door and floated herself over towards where the teenager was. She sat herself down on the bed next to the upset teenager and rested a hand on her shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Still upset about Betelgeuse having to go straight back to the Netherworld, are we now, Lydia?” asked Barbara with a knowing smile on her face. Lydia looked up at Barbara then focused her attention back towards the floor of her bedroom.</p><p> </p><p>“How’d you know?” asked Lydia when she finally decided to refocus her attention back over towards her ghost mother.</p><p> </p><p>“Lucky guess.” Barbara let out a sigh then began to run a hand through Lydia’s short, Black hair. “Look,” Barbara finally said after a few minutes of thinking how to phrase what she was about to say. “Choosing to make Betelgeuse go back to the Netherworld upon he and you returning home from your fourth trip out to town wasn’t my decision, Lydia.”</p><p> </p><p>“Whose was it?” asked Lydia, who was now swinging her legs back and forth.</p><p> </p><p>“It was your dad’s decision,” replied Barbara with a sigh. “He’d come upstairs to check on you after you ran upstairs to tell Betelgeuse that you could see us again. He found your room once again empty and came downstairs to let us know. Hence why we grounded you for a week and sent Betelgeuse back to the Netherworld when you guys got home.”</p><p> </p><p>“How’d you know I came back upstairs to tell Betelgeuse that I could see you and Adam again?” asked Lydia, refocusing her attention back over towards Barbara.</p><p> </p><p>“Another lucky guess, I’d say,” was a smiling Barbara’s response.</p><p> </p><p>“Guys!” shouted Adam as he banged a few times on Lydia’s bedroom door. “Do you mind coming downstairs? Delia needs help with the dinner.”</p><p> </p><p>“Coming!” shouted Lydia and Barbara in unison.</p><p> </p><p>Barbara gave Lydia a small smile and phased herself right through the teenager’s bedroom door. Standing up, Lydia stretched, opened her bedroom door, and closed it behind her before going downstairs to help her stepmother and Barbara with that night’s dinner.</p><p> </p><p>She couldn’t wait to tell all four of her parents all about Marie at dinnertime but it was her weeklong grounding that she looked the least forward to.</p><p> </p><p>If only she hadn’t gone out with Betelgeuse in the first place, then none of this would have happened.</p><p> </p><p>If only.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Ground Control</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, what can you tell us about Marie, Lydia?” asked Barbara as the five of them sat down at the dining room table and three plates of pasta were placed down by Adam in front of the Deetzes.</p><p> </p><p>As the three of them began to eat their dinner, Lydia thought to herself for a few minutes. Marie was shy but turned out to be nice when she really opened up to Lydia and to Betelgeuse. There wasn’t really much more to say about Marie other than that so that was Lydia’s answer. Lydia turned to look over towards Barbara with a smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Marie was shy at first,” explained Lydia after a few more minutes of thinking to herself and all four of her parents nodded along. “But she was really nice when she fully opened up to Beej and I. A little confused as to what the Netherworld was but still nice.”</p><p> </p><p>“I see,” commented Barbara. “I wonder how these lost ghosts would be doing in the Netherworld.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’d ask Betelgeuse but I can’t,” replied Lydia as she slowly started to pick at her pasta.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, Lydia, sweetie,” said Charles suddenly, which directed his daughter’s attention over towards him. “Your grounding doesn’t start until tomorrow so you can ask mr. Geuse how those lost ghosts you helped direct to the Netherworld are doing.”</p><p> </p><p>“Really?” asked Lydia, a hint of excitement in her voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes really,” said her dad with a faint laugh. “Now help Delia and Barbara with the dishes and then you can go upstairs to talk to mr. Geuse if you want to.”</p><p> </p><p>“Alright!” Lydia cheered and got up to help her ghost mom and her stepmom with the dishes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>After helping out with the dishes, Lydia was upstairs in her bedroom. Pacing around and thinking about how she was going to talk to Betelgeuse.</p><p> </p><p>“Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse!” she finally said as she stopped pacing around her bedroom and sat herself down on her bed.</p><p> </p><p>The demon appeared in a flash of light right next to her and he looked at her with a look of confusion in his eyes. She could immediately tell that he wasn’t expecting to be summoned by her until her grounding was up and she gave him a slight sheepish look.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry,” said Lydia after a few long minutes of silence shared between the two of them. “My dad said I could talk to you tonight because my grounding doesn’t actually start until tomorrow morning. I’d like to ask you a question.”</p><p> </p><p>“What is it, Scarecrow?” asked Betelgeuse.</p><p> </p><p>“How are the lost ghosts that we met doing, Beej? Have you seen any of them?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yes,” Betelgeuse said with a laugh. “I would say that Elizabeth is doing fine. She did get into quite a lot of trouble with Miss Argentina the moment she got to the Netherworld. Edward is doing well. He’s not in a lot of trouble like Ellie is. Same as Marie actually.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s great to hear, Beej,” said Lydia with a smile. “That’s all I needed to hear from you. Thanks, Beej. I think I hear my parents calling.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, wait, wait.”</p><p> </p><p>“Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse!”</p><p> </p><p>In a flash of light, the demon disappeared and Lydia exited her bedroom, heading down the stairs and into the living room.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>It turned out that all four of Lydia’s parents did call for her to come downstairs into the living room, but the reason why the teenager did not know.</p><p> </p><p>She was sitting on the couch with the Maitlands both sitting on either side of her. Her dad and Delia sat across from the three of them.</p><p> </p><p>“How did your brief talk with mr. Geuse go, Lydia?” her dad asked as he turned his attention over towards her.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that what all of this is about?” asked Lydia with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes and no,” replied Charles. “We were also going to talk to you about your grounding and the benefits-.”</p><p> </p><p>“Rules,” corrected Delia.</p><p> </p><p>“Right. Rules of it,” said Charles as he slapped a hand against his forehead, laughing a little. “Now, how did the brief talk you had with mr. Geuse go, Lydia.”</p><p> </p><p>“It went well,” replied Lydia as she looked at all four of her parents, Charles then Delia then Adam and finally Barbara. “I had to ask him about the lost ghosts we met and how they were doing. He said they were all doing fine. The last thing I heard from him,” said Lydia as she turned her attention away from her four parents. “Was “Wait, wait, wait” as I called his name out and sent him back to the Netherworld.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” said Charles as his daughter refocused her attention back over towards him and the rest of her parents. “Now, about the rules that’ll come with your grounding.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Mirror Talk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lydia had again retreated into her bedroom after going through a talk with all four of her parents about the rules of her grounding. She knew that she wasn’t allowed to talk to Betelgeuse (that was another rule to go alongside the rule of her not being able to hang out with Betelgeuse and vice versa until at least the end of the week). Those were a couple of rules that made Lydia anxious about being separated from her best demon friend for a whole week.</p><p> </p><p>She wasn’t just anxious, she was a little bit scared as well.</p><p> </p><p>She lay on her back on top of her bed and stared blankly up at the ceiling of her bedroom. Missing Betelgeuse for a long week, as she knew now, was going to be hard for her to do but she also knew that she was going to get through it.</p><p> </p><p>Not only that but she hoped she would get through it. She had to.</p><p> </p><p>She rolled over on her side and stared at the mirror on her bedroom wall opposite her bed, looking at her reflection for a few long minutes. She moved to look back up at her bedroom ceiling when she noticed a rippling in her mirror and she turned and refocused her attention over towards her mirror.</p><p> </p><p>“What is that?” she asked herself as she sat up, got up off of her bed, and slowly crept over towards her mirror. “Beej?” she called out. “Is that your doing?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes!” replied a voice from behind Lydia’s mirror and soon enough, an image of the demon himself, followed by images of Marie, Elizabeth, and Edward, all appeared in Lydia’s mirror and they all waved at Lydia with huge smiles on their faces.</p><p> </p><p>“How did you all-?” Lydia confusedly asked the four of them and then stopped, staring into her mirror at the demon and all three ghosts and remembering that her parents told her that she wasn’t allowed to even talk to Betelgeuse. “What are you all doing here?”</p><p> </p><p>“I came because I still wanted to talk to you, Scarecrow,” came a snickering and smirking Betelgeuse’s response. “These guys.” He gestured to Marie then Elizabeth and finally Edward. “Wanted to see you as well so I allowed them to join in on this as well. I hope that’s okay, Lyds.”</p><p> </p><p>“Betelgeuse!” said Lydia sternly. “My four parents told me I wasn’t allowed to talk to you as a rule that goes along with the two of us not being able to hang out.”</p><p> </p><p>“You have four parents?” asked Marie with a hint of curiosity hidden in the tone of her voice. ”You are so lucky, Lydia. I only had two when I was alive.”</p><p> </p><p>“Same,” chorused Elizabeth and Edward.</p><p> </p><p>“You guys are all lucky,” lamented Betelgeuse as he looked sadly off to the side. “I only had my mom and I never knew my dad.”</p><p> </p><p>All a little confused and concerned for him, Marie, Elizabeth, and Edward all looked over towards Betelgeuse.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh oh,” commented Marie, which directed the sad demon’s direct attention over towards her. “What’s wrong with your mother, Betelgeuse.”</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing,” replied Betelgeuse as he made his way back over towards her. “Except that my mom was abusive towards me and the head of the Netherworld before I got rid of her via Sandworm.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Betelgeuse,” all three ghosts said in unison as they crowded around the nervous demon. “We’re so sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>“What’s a Sandworm?” asked Lydia as she looked at Betelgeuse, putting a stop to the conversation that all four dead people were having. Betelgeuse turned towards her and sighed.</p><p> </p><p>“Scarecrow, do you seriously not know what a Sandworm is?” asked Betelgeuse and Lydia shook her head.</p><p> </p><p>“No. What are those.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve seen one before,” said Betelgeuse with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“I-I have. When?” said Lydia, completely surprised.</p><p> </p><p>“Right after you killed me,” replied Betelgeuse, winking at Lydia. “My mom showed up to take you and your dad back to the Netherworld with her and I rode in on a Sandworm to get rid of her.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, that’s what that was.”</p><p> </p><p>The sudden shout of “Lydia!” alerted the five of them and the images of Betelgeuse, Marie, Elizabeth, and Edward disappeared from Lydia’s mirror. Lydia made her way over towards her door, opened it, exited her bedroom, closed the door behind her, and went downstairs to see what all four of her parents wanted.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>She sat on the couch in the living room with all four of her parents sitting across from her. With a nervous look on her face, Lydia let out a quiet gulp as she focused her attention over towards her parents. She had a feeling she knew why her parents all called her downstairs.</p><p> </p><p>And she was right.</p><p> </p><p>Charles rested a hand against his chin as he glared intently at his daughter, the same look that Delia, Adam, and Barbara all had on their faces. Lydia gulped again.</p><p> </p><p>“I think you know why we asked for you to come downstairs, Lydia, sweetheart,” said Charles, directing the attention of his daughter over towards him. All four of the teenager’s parents folded their arms and kept on glaring at the teenager. This in turn making Lydia even more nervous than she originally was.</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” said Lydia sheepishly. “I know. I was talking to Betelgeuse when I knew I wasn’t supposed to.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not only that,” said Barbara, sending a stern and serious glare in the teenager’s direction. “But you allowed him to talk to you.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know and I’m sorry,” Lydia sadly said as she focused her attention onto the living room carpet. “I should have just told him to go away the moment he appeared in my mirror.”</p><p> </p><p>Her parents were all shocked but surprised at this. “Wait,” said Adam out of confusion. “He appeared in your mirror.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not just him,” replied Lydia with a slight laugh. “But all the ghost friends that we met when we went out to look for lost ghosts. All three of them. Can I go back upstairs now?”</p><p> </p><p>“You may go back upstairs,” Charles said sternly. “As long as you don’t talk to Betelgeuse again. You may however talk to your other ghost friends.”</p><p> </p><p>The others nodded in agreement.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, dad! Thank you, Delia! Thank you, Adam! Thank you, Barbara!” shouted Lydia in excitement as she gave each of her parents a hug.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Once back in her bedroom, Lydia closed the door and let out a relieved sigh. She refocused her attention back over towards her mirror and called out,</p><p> </p><p>“Marie?! Elizabeth?! Edward?! Did you guys want to talk some more?”</p><p> </p><p>At that, the images of her ghost friends appeared in her mirror and they all smiled and waved at her.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi again, Lydia,” Marie said in a happy greeting to the teenager. “How did the talk with your four parents go?”</p><p> </p><p>“It went smoothly,” was the living girl’s reply. “Turns out they were mad at me for talking to Betelgeuse when I wasn’t supposed to. I can still talk to you guys though, which is good.”</p><p> </p><p>“What happened to make all of your parents decide that you weren’t allowed to talk to Betelgeuse?” asked Elizabeth, a hint of confusion in her voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Going out and meeting you guys,” was Lydia’s response.</p><p> </p><p>Wait for it...</p><p> </p><p>“WHAT?!” all three ghosts shouted in unison.</p><p> </p><p>There it was.</p><p> </p><p>The call of “Lydia, please get ready for bed!” sounded from the bottom floor of the house and Lydia quickly bid farewell to all her ghost friends.</p><p> </p><p>She was not prepared for what might happen within the next week.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Next chapter, there’s going to be a time skip so be prepared for that.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. When Your Parents are Acting Strangely, Go to the Netherworld</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>
  <strong>*One week later*</strong>
</p><hr/><p>Lydia awoke with a smile on her face. It was the last day of her week without hanging out with Betelgeuse and she couldn’t wait until tomorrow. When she would finally be allowed to hang out with Betelgeuse again.</p><p> </p><p>She got out of bed, slipped on her favorite Black dress, said a quick hello to her ghost friends from the Netherworld, and headed downstairs to get herself some breakfast.</p><p> </p><p>The first of her parents that she noticed upon entering the kitchen of the house was Adam. He was sitting at the kitchen counter and reading a newspaper, which, to Lydia, was a little bit unusual. Adam almost never read the newspaper in the morning. That was something she’d often see her dad doing.</p><p> </p><p>“Good morning, Adam,” said Lydia in a cheerful voice. The same voice she used when greeting all four of her parents in the morning.</p><p> </p><p>He put his newspaper down and turned his attention over towards Lydia.</p><p> </p><p>“Good morning, Lydia,” replied Adam in a voice not quite his own. Lydia stared confusedly at her ghost dad. “How are you this morning?”</p><p> </p><p>“Fine,” was all Lydia could say as she scratched her head. There was definitely something wrong with her ghost father and Lydia just couldn’t seem to put her finger on it.</p><p> </p><p>Her dad entered the room and sat himself down before picking up the newspaper that Adam had put down as he greeted Lydia and beginning to read it.</p><p> </p><p>“Good morning, Lydia, sweetheart,” said her dad in a voice that sounded suspiciously similar to the voice that Adam was talking in.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh... Good morning, dad?” said Lydia, both confused and concerned.</p><p> </p><p>Barbara and Delia both entered the kitchen at the exact same time, sitting down and chatting in the same voice, a voice that was different than the voice that Lydia’s dad and Adam were talking in, but still the same voice.</p><p> </p><p>Lydia looked at her parents’ eyes and saw that they were all glowing the same shade of White. She waved a hand in front of Adam’s face and when the male ghost didn’t even seem to respond, that’s when Lydia got really worried and confused.</p><p> </p><p>“Good morning, Delia, Barbara!” shouted Lydia as she rushed up the stairs to her bedroom as fast as she possibly could.</p><p> </p><p>“Good morning, Lydia,” the two females replied in unison as they begin to chat with their respective men.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><br/>Lydia slammed the door to her bedroom shut and took a deep breath as she looked at her mirror. She knew that she was still grounded and that she shouldn’t actually be talking to Betelgeuse. But hey, what if there actually was a problem with her four parents. It wouldn’t hurt to summon him so that he could help her figure out what was wrong with her dad, Delia, and the Maitlands, right?</p><p> </p><p>With little to no hesitation, Lydia opened her mouth and spoke,</p><p> </p><p>“Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse!”</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t take that long for the demon to appear right beside her, a look of worry appearing on his face when he realized that Lydia was still grounded.</p><p> </p><p>“Woah, Scarecrow. Aren’t you still, like, grounded or whatever?”</p><p> </p><p>“It doesn’t matter that I’m grounded or not, Beej!” retorted Lydia. “My parents were all acting strangely this morning and I was beginning to wonder that they might all be possessed. That’s my theory anyway. I don’t know if it’s actually true.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, lets go downstairs and see for ourselves, Lydia,” suggested Betelgeuse with a smile on his face. “The only way we can tell that sexy, Babs, Chuck, and Debra are totally possessed is if they act nice around me.”</p><p> </p><p>“How do you know that’s actually going to work, Beej?” questioned Lydia with great curiosity.</p><p> </p><p>“I just do, Lyds, I just do. Now come on, let’s go downstairs.”</p><p> </p><p>They hurried downstairs and found all four of Lydia’s parents in the living room, all sitting, chatting, and watching tv together.</p><p> </p><p>Betelgeuse sighed. “I guess we can already tell that they’re all possessed, Lyds, those aren’t even their regular voices.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know that, Beej. They all said good morning to me in those exact voices.”</p><p> </p><p>Betelgeuse let out a few laughs. “Oh.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hi, Betelgeuse,” all four of Lydia’s parents said as they turned their attention over towards the demon. “How are you this fine morning?”</p><p> </p><p>Lydia pointed a hand at the window. “It’s snowing outside.”</p><p> </p><p>“Snow? Where?” All four of Lydia’s parents dashed over to the window and looked outside.</p><p> </p><p>“That should distract them all long enough,” said Lydia as she and Betelgeuse dashed back upstairs to Lydia’s bedroom and Lydia slammed the door closed behind her.</p><p> </p><p>“Ready to go to the Netherworld to see if we can go and find a cure for your parents’ possession, Lyds?” asked Betelgeuse as he drew a door to the Netherworld with a piece of Green chalk that he found lying around on one of Lydia’s chest of drawers.</p><p> </p><p>“I wish that I could go with you, but I’m still grounded from when we went out and met Marie,” explained Lydia sadly.</p><p> </p><p>Betelgeuse rested a hand on the teenager’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said. “It doesn’t matter that you’re grounded, Lydia. When we cure your parents’ possession, don’t tell any of your parents that you forgot that you were grounded and you went to the Netherworld in search of a cure.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is that because you know that they’ll get mad at me and ground me an extra week if they find out?” asked Lydia out of confusion.</p><p> </p><p>“Precisely. Now, onward to the Netherworld to search for a cure.”</p><p> </p><p>As Lydia and Betelgeuse stepped through the door to the Netherworld, Lydia looked one last time at her bedroom as the door closed behind her.</p><p> </p><p>There was no turning back now.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Start of the Search</h2></a>
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    <p>Lydia and Betelgeuse soon found themselves in the waiting room of the Netherworld and not even Lydia knew why they were there of all places. This was a part of the Netherworld that Lydia knew she’d never been in so, in retrospect, she was a little bit nervous.</p><p> </p><p>Betelgeuse knocked on one of the windows of the front desk and it immediately opened up. “What do you want?” asked a centuries old deceased person on the other side of the window.</p><p> </p><p>Betelgeuse gestured to himself and then to Lydia. “We are both here to see Miss Argentina,” the demon explained rather in a hurry. “It’s urgent.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’ll have to wait to see her,” the deceased on the other side of the window said. “She’s a hella busy being the head of the Netherworld now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Listen,” said Betelgeuse. “Like I said, it’s important. We need to see her right this minute.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, okay, fine! I’ll go see if she’s available.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>A little while later, the receptionist came back and retook their seat behind the window of the front desk and said,</p><p> </p><p>“Betelgeuse, Lydia, Miss Argentina will see you guys now.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s about time,” said Betelgeuse as he and Lydia stood up and went on their way to Miss Argentina’s office.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>“So what is this important thing you wanted to talk to me about?” asked Miss Argentina as she gazed at an equally nervous Lydia and Betelgeuse. “It better be quick. I got to get back to work.”</p><p> </p><p>“I promise you this will only take a few minutes,” said Betelgeuse.</p><p> </p><p>“It better.”</p><p> </p><p>Lydia took a few deep breaths then began to explain her situation to the deceased in front of her. “All four of my parents have been possessed and I’m really worried about them all. How long does it take before possession can be irreversible?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, possessions are never irreversible, Lydia.”</p><p> </p><p>“We’re here to find a cure for the possession, Miss Argentina,” explained Betelgeuse. “We were wondering if there was one or not.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmmm...” Miss Argentina rested an ice cold finger against her chin and began to think to herself for a few minutes. “Oh yes, a cure for the possessions Lydia’s parents are going through. It’s in the heart of the Netherworld. It’ll take a couple of days to get there at the very least.”</p><p> </p><p>“A couple of days?” Lydia and Betelgeuse looked at one another and then back towards Miss Argentina.</p><p> </p><p>“Mhm. Now, do you mind get going? I have to go back to work,” Miss Argentina said. Then she remembered something. “Before you guys go!” she called out, stopping Lydia and Betelgeuse in their tracks. “I have had deceased people come to me complaining of being possessed. There have been two ghosts going around possessing random ghosts. I’ve tried to stop them before but they got away before I could have them taken away.”</p><p> </p><p>“Two ghosts you say?” asked Betelgeuse as he raised an eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>“Indeed. If you find out that it’s these two ghosts that have possessed Lydia’s parents, do not hesitate to come and get me so I can stop them for good.”</p><p> </p><p>“We will!” Lydia and Betelgeuse called over their shoulders as they turned and left Miss Argentina’s office and the waiting room. Off to the heart of the Netherworld they went.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Lydia and Betelgeuse came to a stop a few feet away from the Netherworld waiting room and Lydia sat down and leaned her back against a wall. She was hungry and thirsty and was desperately in need of something to eat and drink. She looked up at Betelgeuse as her stomach rumbled.</p><p> </p><p>“Hungry are we?” asked Betelgeuse as he sat himself down next to Lydia and she nodded in response, holding her hands out in front of her and waiting for something to eat and something to drink. Betelgeuse summoned a granola bar and a glass of water out of thin air and levitated them into Lydia’s extended hands. “Here you go, Scarecrow.”</p><p> </p><p>As Lydia placed the granola bar she was given down and took a few sips of her water, she looked up at Betelgeuse with a smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, Beej,” she said as she picked up her granola bar, opened it, and took a bite out of it.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re welcome, Lydia,” replied Betelgeuse as he relaxed and rested his hands behind his head.</p><p> </p><p>Lydia eventually finished her granola bar and stood up, motioning for Betelgeuse to do the same as her.</p><p> </p><p>And the two of them began on their way to the heart of the Netherworld.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Back at the Maitland-Deetz house, a possessed Adam and Charles sat at the dining room table whilst a possessed Barbara and Delia stood in the kitchen and prepared to make lunch.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you want for lunch today, Charles, dear?” the possessed Delia asked the possessed Charles.</p><p> </p><p>The possessed Charles stood up from the dining room table and joined the possessed Delia and Barbara in the kitchen. “I want a ham sandwich with crisps on the side, Delia, honey,” he said as he got the respective stuff to make the food out of the pantry and placed it in front of the possessed Delia.</p><p> </p><p>“Coming right up,” the possessed Delia said as she began to make the sandwich.</p><p> </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>Turning down another hallway, Betelgeuse and Lydia decided to sit down again. Lydia, again, was hungry and she desperately needed something to eat again. She looked directly at Betelgeuse and asked,</p><p> </p><p>“Beej, can I have some microwaved macaroni and cheese please? It should be my lunch time right about now and I’m very very hungry.”</p><p> </p><p>He summoned her the food that she asked for and handed it to her, watching on as she began to eat it.</p><p> </p><p>After a few minutes, she was done and handed it back to Betelgeuse, who took it and made it disappear with a snap of his fingers. He focused his attention onto Lydia, smiled, and asked her,</p><p> </p><p>“Shall we continue on with our two day journey?”</p><p> </p><p>“We shall,” was Lydia’s response and the two of them stood up, continuing on their way to the heart of the Netherworld.</p>
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